Brown Plays Dirty Politics with Palin Speech, Says... HuffPo?

I've covered Senator Leland Yee's little crusade against Governor Palin's speech extensively. Come to find out Leland is gearing up to run for the San Francisco Mayor's office. He wouldn't have started this spectacle against a fundraiser to jump-start his own fundraising efforts, would he? The left does claim that Palin brings in lots of money for democrats, and the DNC has used her name in the past to rally their unhinged base. Fear and hatred being the primary motivating factors, I would say it's a safe bet.


It appears that Leland Yee isn't alone in using this trick. Richard Grenell, the former Director of Communications and Public Diplomacy for the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations posted an article called "Jerry Brown's "Investigations" Are Campaign Stops" on Saturday at the Huffington Post. Judging by the reaction of the comments over there, the normal readership is not too happy about it either. He states:

It must be campaign season. How else do you explain Jerry Brown's recent fascination with investigations and allegations announced with lots of media in tow and advantageously timed to benefit traditional Democratic constituencies and issues? There is no doubt that the Brown campaign committee and political advisors are strategically planning the roll-out of official attorney general "investigations" to maximize public attention and perception. But what is most troubling about Jerry Brown's use of the Attorney General's office to campaign for his
return to the governor's mansion is that his cavalier press conferences, media interviews and announced investigations are only chasing Democratic political issues while ignoring real public safety concerns. Brown has turned the Attorney General's Office into a political machine with subpoena power -- and Republicans and their allies are the target.

In the month of April alone, Brown has launched investigations to embarrass Sarah Palin, aggressively promote union membership, clear ACORN of criminal activities, play catch-up on the Wall Street scandal by trumping up charges against Wall Street giant Moody's, go after an oil company politically active in defeating California's new green house gas emissions law, and grab headlines on issues ranging from home foreclosures to former child star Corey Haim's death. In just one month, Brown has shown that his race for governor starts by using his legal office to help traditional Democratic allies beat back their opponents. The tactics Jerry Brown
is using and the public position he is abusing leaves the public with no other choice but to ask Brown to give up his position as the top law enforcement official in California if he is to run an honest campaign for governor.

Brown has promoted his investigation of Sarah Palin's speech at California State University Stanislaus nationwide in an attempt to raise campaign money from Democrats across the U.S. By using the Attorney General's office to investigate the Democrat's favorite villain, Brown has turned the AG's office into his political fundraising operation. It just isn't credible for Brown to suggest that Palin's speech contract deserves the scrutiny of the top law enforcement agency in California -- no matter what the details of the contract are. Brown's hyperbolic and emotional rants on the issue just don't pass the straight-face test.

[...]

The business community is being bullied by Brown and his team through Chicago-style politics. If Jerry Brown wants to restore California to its golden days, then he should start by stepping down as attorney general and giving the citizens confidence that the highest law enforcement official in the state will not also be running for governor at the same time.

I couldn't agree more... For both Leland Yee and Jerry Brown to use public resources to pursue their political gain in the name of being 'watch-dogs' for the people of California and their public funds is laughable on it's face. Here these guys pull from the public treasury, money it does not have, to persecute someone who is accepting PRIVATE funds to help raise money (no doubt the money spent by private donors is an investment they will see a large return off of) for a PUBLIC institution. Nobody does irony quite like California does irony.